Garment hanger



p 1968 5. J. DODULIK 3,401,854

GARMENT HANGER Filed Sept. 6, 1966 J2 30 3 35 Inventor Steven J. Dada/ k y M 4/ W22 fitforney United States Patent 3,401,854 GARMENT HANGER Steven J. Dodulik, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Dodco, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Sept. 6, 1966, Ser. No. 577,258 1 Claim. (Cl. 223-92) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment hanger in which the garment supporting arms are resiliently supported relative to the hook of the hanger so that they yield to pressure for movement toward each other for permitting the garment to pass over the arms to remove the garment from the hanger. The arms return to their normal garment supporting position after the pressure has been removed.

Garments, such as skirts, coats and the like are suspended from garment hangers by inserting the two ends of the hanger into the shoulders of the garment and wrapping the garment about the hanger. In order to remove the garment, it is necessary to unwrap the garment from around the hanger and withdraw the hanger from its shoulders. Normally, the time required to remove a single garment from a hanger in this manner is relatively insignificant. However, when the removal of garments from hangers is done repeatedly in the performance of a production operation, the time consumed in performing this portion of the operation may be important.

For example, it frequently occurs that the pressing of shirts in launderies is done by a group of specialists with each individual ironing only a portion of the shirt. Thus, the ironing of the collars, the cuffs, the sleeves and the bodies of the shirts are each done by a different individ- 1131].. Each worker completes his task and returns the shirt to a garment hanger which is hung from a suitable support. The garment hanger with the shirt suspended from it is then transferred to the next operator who removes it, performs his operation on the shirt, and again returns the shirt to the hanger. Accordingly, each worker that performs an operation on the shirt must remove it from the hanger. If each shirt is removed from the hanger in the usual manner by unwrapping it from the hanger and then withdrawing the latter from the shoulders of the shirt, a substantial amount of time is spent during the course of the day by each worker in merely removing garments from hangers.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved garment hanger which is especially adapted to facilitate the removal of a garment that is suspended from it.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment hanger that will support a garment in the normal manner but will release it in response to a simple tug on the garment.

Another object is to provide a garment hanger in which the garment may be pulled in a single direction to remove it from the hanger without damaging or wrinkling the garment.

A further object is to provide an improved garment hanger of simple and inexpeensive but sturdy construction that is very efiicient in operation.

According to this invention the improved garment hanger comprises a hook with a depending stem and two garment supporting arms extending laterally from the stern in opposite directions according to conventional construction. The novelty of the structure lies in the resilient mounting of the two arms which permits them to yield to a downward force and causes them to return to their normal positions when the force is removed. As a result, to remove 3,401,854 Patented Sept. 17, 1968 ice a garment from the hanger, it is only necessary to pull downwardly on the garment to cause the arms to yield downwardly and allow the garment to pass over the arms and be conveniently released from the hanger. This arrangement avoids the necessity. of unwrapping the garment from the hanger and lifting it off of the hanger arms.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention which will become apparent from the following detailed description setting forth an illustrative embodiment, may be achieved by the particular article depicted in and described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

-FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a garment hanger incorporating the features of the present invention and shown supporting a shirt;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the garment hanger illustrated in FIGURE 1 but with the shirt omitted; and

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of a garment hanger incorporating an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings and specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2 which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The improved garment hanger illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is generally identified by the reference numeral 10 and includes a hook 11 which serves as a support to support the hanger 10 from a rod, line hook or the like in the usual manner. A stem 12 depends from the hook 11 with the latter being disposed at one end of the stem 12. A pair of arms 13 and 14 extend laterally in opposite directions from the opposite end of the stem 12. The arms 13 and '14 along with the stem 12 and hook 11 are all disposed in substantially the same plane and the arms function to support a garment such as the shirt 15 shown in FIG. 1 as 'being supported by the hanger 10. It will be noted that the shoulder portions of the garment 15 rest upon the arms 13 and 14 with the collar portion being wrapped around the upper ends of the two arms 13 and 14.

It is a feature of the present invention to provide a resilient mounting for the two arms 13 and 14 so that.

they will flex downwardly toward each other relative to the stem 12 upon the application of a downward pressure upon them and will return to their normal positions illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 when the downward pressure is relieved. With this arrangement, the shirt 15 may be removed by pulling downwardly upon it to cause the two arms 13 and 14 to yield so that the garment will pass downwardly over the two arms 13 and 14 and off of the hanger 10 without the necessity of unwrapping the garment and removing the two arms 13 and 14 from the interior of the shoulder portion of the garment.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the two arms 13 and 14 are formed of a single strand of wire looped at the central portion to form a coil 20 which acts as a torsion spring to provide the resiliency to the arms 13 and 14 to allow the arms to yield to the pressure but will return them to the normal position when the pressure is relieved. When downward pressure is placed upon the arms 13 and 14 the coil 20 is wound together to allow the arms to move downwardly in a pivotal movement about the coil 20. When the pressure on the arms 13 and 14 is relieved, the coil 20 unwinds to return the arms to their normal positions. The pivotal movement of the arms 13 and 14 occurs in the same plane that normally contains the arms as well as the hook 11 and stem 12. The arms 13 and 14 and the coil 20 are designed to firmly support a garment on the hanger but to yield when a moderate pressure is applied for removing the garment from the hanger. v

The stem 12 is welded or otherwise attached to the coil 20 for supporting-the two arms 13 and 14. The extending end of the arm 13 is provided with a loop 21 while an identical loop 22 is provided on the extending end of the arm 14. The loops 21 and 22 serve to provide a smooth rounded end on each of the arms. A similar loop 23 is provided on the stem 12 opposite the end containing the hook 11 so that the hanger avoids presenting any sharp ends.

An alternate embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3 which depicts a garment hanger generally identified by the reference numeral 25 and which incorporates the features of the present invention. The hanger 25 differs from the hanger in that it includes two coils 30 and 31 for resiliently supporting two arms 32 and 33 instead of the single loop provided for the hanger 10. In addition, the entire hanger is fabricated of a single strand of wire.

Thus, the arm 32 is formed of a single strand of wire that coils to form the coil and then continues through a straight section 34. From the section 34, the strand of wire is bent 90 to form one strand of a stem 35 which is formed of two strands of wire. After completing the stem 35, the strand of wire is formed into a hook or support 36 and is then doubled back in the same hook shape to complete the hook of a double strand of wire. The wire then continues to form the second strand of wire of the stem 35 and is then bent 90 to form a second straight section 37 extending laterally from the stem 35 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the straight section 34 extends. The wire is then coiled into the coil 31 and extended laterally therefrom to form the arm 33. A loop 40 is formed at the extending end of the arm 32 and an identical loop 41 is formed at the extending end of the arm 33 so that only smooth rounded surfaces are presented by the hanger 25.

The coil 30 provides the resiliency to the arm 32 while the coil 31 produces the resiliency in the arm 33. The coils 30 and 31 serve as coiled torsion springs with the arms 32 and 33 serving as an extension of the coils so that the arm 32 shifts in a pivotal movement about the coil 30 and the arm 33 pivots about the coil 31. As the arms 32 and 33 are moved downwardly from their normal position illustrated in FIG. 3, the loops 30 and 31 wind with the downward movement of the arms to enable a garment supported by the hanger to be pulled downwardly and be released from the hanger by reason of the drastic reduction in the spacing of the ends of the arms 32 and 33. When the garment is released from the hanger, the pressure on the arms 32 and 33 is removed and the coils 30 and 31 unwind to spring the arms back to their normal positions as shown in FIG. 3. The hook 36, stem 35, loops 30 and 31, straight sections 34 and 37, as well as the arms 32 and 33 are all in substantially the same plane and the movement of the arms 32 and 33 is likewise in this plane.

It is therefore apparent that the resilient mounting of the arms 13 and 14 in the garment hanger 10- and the resilient mounting of the arms 32 and 33 in the garment hanger 25 enable a garment that is being supported by the hangers to be pulled downwardly off of the hanger rather than requiring the garment to be unwrapped from the hanger and the arms of the hanger being withdrawn from the shoulders of the garment. Such an arrangement is especially advantageous in a production or service facility where the garments are supported on hangers and transferred from one station to another for the performance of different operations with each operator being required to remove the garment from the hanger and return it upon the completion of the operation. For example, different portions of a shirt are pressed by different operators in a laundry and the shirts are transferred from one operator to another as they are supported by garment hangers. Each operator must remove the shirt from the hanger and then replace it after she has completed her operation. The improved garment hanger of the present invention renders it unnecessary for the operator to remove the shirt from the hanger by unwrapping it therefrom and Withdrawing the arms from the shoulder of the garment. Instead, it is only necessary for the operator to pull the shirt downwardly to cause the arms of the hanger to yield for releasing the shirt. This greatly facilitates the removal of the shirt from the hanger and during the course of the day saves a substantial amount of time for each operator.

From the foregoing detailed description of the illustrative embodiments of the present invention, it will be apparent that a new and improved garment hanger has been provided which is especially adapted to greatly facilitate the removal of a garment being supported thereby.

Although the illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail for the purpose of making a full disclosure of a practical operative arrangement by means of which the invention may be practiced, it is to be understood that various novel features of the invention may be incorporated in other arrangements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claim.

The principles of the invention having now been fully explained in connection with the foregoing description of the illustrative embodiments the invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A garment hanger formed in its entirety of a single length of wire, said single length of wire, at its mid portion being bent upon itself to form a double wire having one end containing a bight portion and free extremities at the other end, a portion of said one end being bent outwardly and downwardly in arcuate shape forming a hook, a double Wire vertical shank extending below said hook, the two wire portions of said single length of wire extending in opposite horizontal directions from the bottom of said vertical shank, each wire portion being looped around to form a spring coil spaced from said vertical shank and extending from each coil in a direction downwardly and outwardly to form oppositely extending leg portions for supporting the shoulders of a garment, said wire portions of said single length of wire each having end portions terminating in a loop extending downwardly and upwardly with the free extremities terminating in abutting relationship underneath said leg portions, said spring coils affording stability for said leg portions in sup porting a garment, but enabling independent collapse of said leg portions as required in inserting or removing a garment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,769,076 7/1930 Shrack 223-94 2,169,538 8/1939 Rowan 223-95 2,569,726 10/1951 McPherson 223-94 2,872,090 2/ 1959 Goodman 223-94 1,212,024 1/1917 Dahlgren 223-95 FOREIGN PATENTS 447,232 5/ 1936 Great Britian.

211,278 11/1940 Switzerland.

921,954 1/ 1955 Germany.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

